Method or art of and apparatus for making ice



Mar. 3, 1925.

G. L; BENNETT METHOD OR ART OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING ICE Filed Feb. 17. 1921 INVENTOR A; A HORNE r,

thereon of Patented Mar. 3, 1925;

UNITED STATES GEORGE L. BENNETT, 0F HASTINGSF'ON'I'HUDSON, NEW YORK.

METHOD'OR ART OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING ICE.

App1ication filed February 17, 1921. Serial No. 445,624.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. BENNEIT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hastings-on-Hudson. in the county of Westbring a sheet of ice thus produced .to a thickness which will make it suitable for use in certain industries such as the production of ice" cream, the preservation of fish and other foodstuff, and for table use in restaurants, the ice thus produced being fairly clear.

The method or art of my invention is capable of continuously producing ice of this quality, and involves the delivery of the water to be frozen under conditions which will cause the rapid and uniform absorption of the heat unit th rein by the refrigerating medium.

In the practice of said method or art, I use an apparatus embodying therein a slowly travelling member which, while continuously subjected to theaction of a refrigcrating agent or mechanism, will have formed thereon a sheet of ice of gradually or progressively increased thickness, 'thus permitting the freezing of the sheet of ice of the ultimate desired thickness, in succeeding stages, while avoiding the presence a sufficient volume of water at any time to interfere with the rapid congealing of the water at each stage during which the water is being flowed thereon.

The ice is formed upon an endless continuous travelling belt, and when the ice has attained the deslred thickness, it is auto' -matically separated from this belt and brought within the operative ran e of breakers, which will separate it into umps of a size suitable for the ultimate use to which the ice is' to be put.

The invention consists primarily .in a method or art of making ice consisting in slowly flowing water in succeeding stages upon a heat conductive member while subto the action of a refrigerating medium, whereby a sheet of ice of increasing thickness is progressively formed, and in an apparatus by which said method or art may be practiced to continuously produce ice, all as hereinafter set forth and described, and more particularl pointed out in the claims hereto appended Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan view of an ice making apparatus for practicing the method or art of my invention, with the upper refrigerator tank removed;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Figs. 3, 4. and 5 are detailed perspective views of different methods of forming the edge dams.

Like letters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

. In the practice of theflmethod orart of my invention, I employ a heat conductive sheet such as an endless thin metal belt, which has continuous movement imparted thereto. The upper reach of this belt passes in close juxtaposition to a suitable refrigerj ecting said member ation tank so that'said belt will be within a low temperature zone which will cause any water delivered upon the belt to be rapidly congealed.

During the movement of said belt, I flow upon same, at different stagesof such movement, a small volume of water divided into a plurality of minute streams, this water congealing sufiiciently rapidly to retain it upon the belt, or if desired, ice dams may be formed along the opposite edges of the belt so as to confine the water subsequently flowed thereonto within the limits prescribed by said dams, and thus permit a greater volume of water to be flowed than might be otherwise possible.

By flowing water upon said belt in different succeeding stages, .I may progressively build up the sheet of ice upon the belt until it has attained the desired thickness, this sheet being separated from the belt and discharged therefrom after it has left the low temperature zone, preferably by imparting to the belt a sharp bend sufficient to overcome the bond between the lower face of the ice and the belt. As the sheet of ice leaves the belt,it will be broken into small particles by reason of the violence of the separation of the ice from the belt, although mechanical means supplementing this action will ensure greater uniformity in the size of the different pieces.

It is essential, in the practice of the method or art of my invention, to flow the water to be converted into ice, upon said belt at intervals of suflicient length to permit a complete solidification of the water previously flowed upon the belt, so as to limit the thickness of the mass from which the heat units must be extracted.

By using a refrigerating tank below the belt, I can readily and rapidly build up ice of from one-half to three-quarters of. an inch in thickness, although I am enabled to secure much clearer ice by using refrigerating tanks both above and below the upper reach of the belt.

Referring more particularly to the app aratus for carrying on the said method or art, which is shown in the accompanying drawings, a represents a thin sheet metalendless conveyer belt passing about the pulleys b and 0 at opposite ends thereof respectively. The pulley c is driven from any desired source of power through the pulley c, the speed of said pulley being very low so as to impart a slow traverse to the belt a. The upper reach of the belt a. rests upon a suitable refrigerating mechanism such as the direct expansion tank at which will serve to hold the belt flat and cause the absorption of heat units from the water delivered to the top reach of said belt, thehigh heat conductivity of the belt facilitating this transfer of heat from matter on the belt to the ammonia contained in the tank d.

A' considerable number of idler return pulleys e are provided for supporting the lower reach of the belt.

Extending above and substantially across the top reach of the belt a are a sequence of water supply pipes f, f, f and f spaced a suflicient distance apart to permit the water flowed onto the top reach of the belt thereby to freeze before a fresh supply of Water is flowed thereonto. The various pipes f to f should be properly insulated to ensure continuity of the flow of water therethrough to the belt.

By providing delivery pipes spaced apart as described, water is flowed upon corresponding portions of the belt in succeeding stages, although each of the pipes f to f has a continuous flow of water therethrough to the belt, this flowing of the water in distinct stages resulting from the movement of the-belt relativeto the various supply pi es.

Eac of the pipes f to f is provided with spaced slow flowing nozzles presented toward the top reach of the belt a with the two-fold object of limiting the volume of water being delivered, and causing its delivery to a restricted area, so that it may, by diffusion, cover a certain limited area upon the belt at a shallow depth which will ensure the rapid congealing of the water.

The low conductivity of ice, when a single refrigerating tank (1 is employed, will have a tendency to produce a cloudy or snow ice and make the freezing during the later stages in the building up of the sheet of ice upon the belt, slower. I, therefore, prefer to provide a second refrigerating tank 9 positioned above the top reach of the belt, which will ensure greater uniformd0 ity in the freezing operation and produce a clearer ice.

The diameter of the pulley Z) should be as small as is consistent with thematerial used in the belt, so as to ensure a sharp S5 bend as the upper reach passes about said pulley, thus separating the bottom of the sheet of ice from the belt to automatically remove the ice from the belt, this action having a tendency to break the ice, although an preferably I provide independently acting breaker means as the shaft 72- carrying, 'a

plurality of radially extending pick blades h terminating adjacent the surface of the belt and adapted, by engagement with the ice as it is stripped therefrom, to break itinto small particles.

WVhile the shaft it may be power-driven, if desired, the engagement of the picks thereof with the sheet of ice may be relied upon to develop sufficient power in said pick or breaker mechanism to reduce the ice to pieces of the desired commercial bulk.

Beyond the pulley b is a chute i into which the broken ice will fall, and by which it will be conveyed to a storage tank, not shown in the drawings.

In order to prevent the overflowing of the water as it is flowed upon the belt a, dams are formed along the opposite edges 11 of said belt, it being possible to provide means whereby ice dams will be formed while the belt is in motion, or to secure to said belt, dams of a flexible or yieldable nature to permit the belt to pass about the pulleys b and 0.

Troughing of the belt is impracticable by reason of the low flexibility thereof and the difliculty of uniformly freezing water flowed thereonto when there is. a varying depth 1 thereof upon the belt.

Referring more particularly to'the' mechanism employed for forming ice dams at the edges of the belt a, which is illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings, I provide a pipe 7' adjacent the pulley b having branches extending above and adjacent the opposite edges of the belt a, said branches aving small outlet openings therein so that water in small volume will dfip upon or be debelt.

. in order to ensure livered to adjacent the edges of the belt, said'nozzles being in advance of the first supply pipe f, sothat these side dams will be formed upon the belt before any water is flowed thereonto from said branch pipes referred to are indicated at y" and 7' respectively. p

The supply pipes f, f and f are provided with similarly constructed and arranged branch pipes k-7c, inf-m" and M so that after each flowing of water within the space defined by the dams formed during the preceding dam forming operation, said dams will be built up to the desired height prior to the next flowing of water upon said Since after any portion of the belt passes below the supply pipev f", the ice will have attained the desired thickness upon the belt a, no branch pipes are provided in connection with said'pipe f To secure the desired results, the water will be flowed upon the belt at either by the supply pipes or by the dam forming device, in streams of smallvolume and low velocity the rapid congealing thereof.

In lieu of the formation of the dams by means of the discharge of water adjacent the edges of the belt a, I may equip the opposite edges of said belt with. continuous flexible dams o of soft rubber or other similar material which will not resist the bend-' ing action of the dams of a plurality of short lapping secbelt, or may form saidside tions p having a sufficiently close fit toretard or prevent the flowing of water therebetween, these sections being of a length to permit the belt to take the desired curvaf ture in passing and g by means. of a suitable compressor shown conventionally at g.

In the operation of the herein described apparatus, after the liquid ammonia or other refrigerating medium has been de-' livered to the tanksd and 9 power is applied to the pulle slow speed to the s c to impart-travel atfa then opened, the water .flowing from; the

branch pipes; g" and con ealing with-sufhas passed this pipe, upon the upper reach v the dams thus formed will rapidly congeal pipe The f shown,

carried b about the-pulleys b and 0.. The ammoniais circulated in the tanks (1;

elt a. The valve control;- ling the flow of water through the pipe i is the branch pipes k-k' increasing the height of the dams to above the level of the ice sheet formed upon the belt from the water discharged thereupon from the supply pipe This operation is repeated at the supply pipes f and 7 so that when the forward edge of the ice coated belt passes under the pipe F, the side edges thereof will be raised above the top" level of the ice sheet. With the forms of dams shown in Figs. 4 to 5 of the drawings, the strip 0 or plates p are relied upon tt. prevent the waterflowing from the top rea ill of the belt.

To secure the desired rapid congealing of the water flowed upon the belt, the water before being delivered to the various pipes 7, 1, 7, f" and j should'be cooled toapproximately 32 F., so as to ensure the rapid solidiflcation thereof while in the low temperature zone.

By spacing and by using slow running streams of water, each of said pipes will be completely solidified before the portion of the belt containing same reaches the succeeding nozzles in the direction of movement of the. belt, so that although the various nozzles act continuously so far as the flowing of the water is concerned, there is an application of this water to the belt in succeeding stages by reason of the spacing of the supply pipes.

Whenthe belt a reaches the pulley b, the bending of said belt in following the pulley will break it away from the ice, which will be projected into engagement with the picks the shaft h, the thrust of said ire upon sai picks causing them to rotate, and succeeding picks engaging succeeding portions of the ice, to break it into small pleces which will drop into the chute and be conveyed to the point of storage.

It is essential that the water be flowed,

slowly upon the belt while maintained at a lowtemperature, and that the thickness of the ice beprogressively increased, the depth of each flow ranging preferably'from one eighth to three-sixteenths of an inch.

It is not my intention to limit the invention to the precise details of construction shown in the accompanying drawings, it being apparent that such may out departing fromthe spirit and scope of .the invention.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new anddesire to have protected by Letters Patent, is I 1. A method or art of making ice consisting in slowly and continuously flowing water in succeedings'tages upon. spaced portions of a heatconductlve member, and imparting slow travel to said heat absorptive member to bring every portion of said memher in co-relation to each stage of flowing water, while subjecting'said member to the the water flowed upon the belt by be varied withen the supply pipes. apart as action of a refrigerating medium whereby a continuous sheet of ice of increasing thickness is progressively formed.

2. A method or art of making ice consisting in imparting slow travel to a non-absorptive member, through a low temperature zone, and forming ice in a sheet of progressively increasing thickness upon said member by flowing water upon said member and the ice formed thereupon at different intervals of its movement while passing throu h said low temperature zone.

- 3. in ice making apparatus embodying therein an endless member, refrigerator means adjacent thereto, means whereby traverse at low speed, is imparted to said member, and a plurality of water supply pipes arranged to flow water upon said member, saidmember passing said pipes successively, whereby a sheet of ice of progressively increasing thickness is formed thereon.

4. An ice making apparatus embodying thereinan endless member, means above and below said member, means whereby traverse at low speed, is imparted to said member, and a plurality of water supply pipes arranged to flow water upon said member, said member passing said pipes successively, whereby a sheet of ice of progressively vincreasing thickness is formed thereon. v

'5. An ice making apparatus embodying therein an endless metal belt, means where- 'by power may be applied to said belt to impart traverse at low speed thereto,

' tionmeans affording a low temperature zone vjadjacent the top reach of said belt, means flwithin said low temperature zone I for maintaining said belt substantially flat and a plurality of water supply ipes above and projecting across said be t, said pipes being spaced apart in the direction of movement of said belt whereby all portions of said belt will have water flowed thereupon in s'ucceeding stages and a sheet of ice of p'rogressively increasing thickness will be formed on said belt. 4

6. An ice making apparatus embodying therein an endless metal belt, rollers about which said belt passes, means whereby power may be applied to said belt to impart traverse at low speed thereto, refrigeration means affording a low temperature zone adjacent the top reach of said belt, a plurality of water supply pipes above and projecting across said belt, said pipes being spaced stages and a sheet of ice of lncreaslng thlckness w1ll be formed on said flat and a breaker mechanism apart in the direction of movement of said,

belt whereby all portions of said belt will have water flowed thereupon in succeeding progressively belt, means within said low temperature zone for maintaining said belt substantially refrigerator refrigera therein an endless member,

ture zone adjacent the top adjacent one of said rollers adapted to reduce the ice sheet to small lumps substantially simultaneously with its separation from said belt, as said belt passes about said roller. Y

An ice making apparatus embodying therein an endless metal belt, means whereby power may be applied to said belt to impart traverse at low speed thereto, refrigeration tanks above and below the top reach of said belt affording a low temperature zone adjacent the top reach of said belt, said refrigeration tank below the top reach of said belt supporting said reach substantially flat and a plurality of water supply pipes above and projecting arross said belt, between same and therefrigeration tank above said belt, said ipes being spaced apart in the difrigerating tank below the top reach of said belt supporting said reach substantially flat, a plurality of water supply pipes above top reach of said and projecting across said belt between 1 same and the refrigeration tank above said belt, said pipes being spaced apart in' the direction of movement of said belt whereby all portions of said belt will have water flowed thereupon in succeeding stages and a sheet of ice of progressively increasing thickness will be formed on said belt, anda I breaker mechanism adjacent one of said rollers adapted to reduce the ice sheet to small lumps substantially simultaneously with its separation from said belt, as said belt passes about said roller. f

9. An ice making apparatus embodying refrigerator means adjacent thereto, means whereby traverse at low speed, is imparted to said member, a plurality of Water supply pipes arranged to flow water upon said member, said member passing said ipes successively, whereby a sheet of ice of progressively in creasing thickness is formed thereon, and means whereby water flowed upon said member will be confined thereupon until it has congealed.

10. An ice making apparatus'embodying therein an endlessmetalb'elt, means whereby power may" be applied to said belt to impart traverse ,atr -"low speed thereto, refrigeration means affording a low temperareach of said belt, a plurality of water supply pipes above and projecting across said belt, said pipes being spaced apart in the direction of movement of said belt whereby all portions of V said belt'will have water flowed ,thereupon in succeeding stages and a sheet of ice of progressively increasing thickndss' will be formed on said belt, means for maintaining said beltsubstantially flat while adjacent said refrigeration means, and means'whereby water flowed upon saidbelt will be confined thereupon until it has congealed.

1-1. An ice' making apparatus embodying therein an endless metal belt, means whereby power may be applied to said belt to impart 1s traverse at low speed thereto, refrigeration means affording a low temperature zone adjacent the top reach of said belt, a plurality I of water supply pipes above and projecting across said belt, said pipes being, s aced apart in the direction of movement 0 said belt whereby all portions of-said belt will I have water flowed thereupon in succeeding stages and a sheet of ice of progressively increasing thickness will be formed on said beltfand means in advance of each of said supply pipes, whereby water in small volume will be delivered adj acent the'oppos'ite edges of said belt to ,form ice dams of progressively increased height as the belt progresses so with relation to said supply pipes.

12.3An ice making apparatus embodying therein an endless metal belt, rollers about belt whereby all stages 2 scribing witnesses,

which said belt passes, means whereby power may be' applied to said belt -to impart traverse at low speed thereto, refrigeration means affording a low temperature zone adjacent the top reach of said belt, a plurality of water supply pipes above and projectin across said belt, said pipes being spaced apart in the direction of movement of said ortions of said belt will have water flowery thereupon in succeeding and a sheet of ice of progressively increasing, thicknesswill be formed on said belt, means in advance of each of said sup ply pipes, whereby water in small volume will be delivered adjacent the opposite edges of said, belt to form ice dams of progressively-.increased-height as the belt progresses with relation to said supply pipes, and, a breaker mechanism adjacent .one 0% said rollers adapted to reduce the ice sheet to small lumps substantially simultaneously with its separation from said belt, as said belt ,passes about said roller.

In witness whereofl have hereunto aflixed my signature, in the presence of two sub-,.

this 14th day of February'1921.-

I GEORGE L'. ,Witnesses: I

F. T. Wampwokm, FRIEDA Konnma. 

